Vacaville stabbing suspect charged as adult

The 14-year-old accused of raping and stabbing a 13-year-old girl and stabbing her 18-month-old brother this weekend was formally charged as an adult with multiple counts of rape, assault and attempted murder, and pleaded innocent to the charges Tuesday afternoon.

A tearful Alexander Cervantes, 14, said little as he appeared before Solano County Superior Court Judge Barbara James. The Solano County Public Defender's Office has been appointed to represent him and Deputy Public Defender Marjaneh Maroufi entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

Cervantes is facing a total of 15 felony charges, including premeditated attempted murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, sodomy on a child under 14, oral copulation on a child under 14, sexual penetration with a foreign object, rape of a child under 14, assault with intent to commit rape, forcing a lewd act upon a child and burglary, with enhancements on all 15 counts.

The Vacaville teenager is unfit for juvenile court, prosecutors said, and District Attorney David Paulson made the decision to try him as an adult. In California, 14 is the minimum age for a juvenile to be prosecuted as an adult.

According to the Vacaville Police Department, the attack happened after Cervantes entered the victims' home, located in the 1200 block of Balsam Way, early Sunday morning. Both the teenage girl and her toddler brother, whom she was home alone babysitting, were asleep when Cervantes entered the house, police said.

According to authorities, Cervantes stabbed the girl more than 30 times and then raped her. While he was attacking the teen, the toddler woke up and police said that Cervantes then stabbed him about 10 times.

After the attack, Cervantes went to sleep inside the home and the girl was able to grab her brother and make her way to the home of a neighbor, where authorities were called, police said.

Cervantes was still asleep inside the home when police arrived and took him into custody, authorities said. The victims were taken to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, where they are recovering, police said.

According to the victims' father, the victims' older brother was in juvenile hall when the attack took place. The unidentified 16-year-old was taken into custody at his home by Vacaville police Nov. 19, after officers performed a probation search of the residence. During the search, which was part of the police investigation into the shooting deaths of two Vacaville men and the injury of a woman earlier that week, officers discovered what was believed to be psilocybin mushrooms, marijuana and pills, according to police. In addition to the drugs found inside the home, police said that they also discovered cash and packing materials that were consistent with drug sales. Authorities believe it is likely that the 16-year-old probationer is the one responsible for selling the drugs that were present at the William Street apartment the night of the shooting.

A readiness conference has been scheduled for Cervantes at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 22 in the Fairfield courtroom of Judge Harry Kinnicutt. A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 27.

The attack is still under investigation. Cervantes' remains in Solano County Juvenile Hall and bail has been set for him at $9 million.